Philosophy of Child Development

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Recommended: Philosophy statement on early childhood education

Through my studies of Early Childhood Education, I have come to form my own philosophy on child development. In HCCF 467: Philosophies and Theories of Child Development, I took the Teacher Belief Inventory which assisted me in expressing my individual philosophy on child development. This inventory is a list of 30 statements for which you rate how strongly you agree or disagree. A number of points are given to each answer given, and then these scores are added up in three categories: cognitive-developmental, cultural-training/behaviorist, and maturationist-socialization. According to the inventory, if your scores are less than 10 points apart, the teacher is not a strong adherent of any position. None of my scores were more than 10 points apart. I feel that the inventory is a valid representation of my beliefs on child development. Through studying the many theories in child development, I have found that my philosophy on child development is based on behaviorist, cognitive-Interactionist, and Maturational theories (Peters, Niesworth, & Yankey, 1985).

According to the inventory, the highest score reflects one’s bias towards a theory. Although my scores didn’t differ greatly, the area I scored highest was cognitive developmental. The statement I strongly agreed with from this category was:

“Teacher provides child with situations that make her or him experiment, explore, and solve problems on his or her own.” (Peters, Niesworth, & Yankey, 1985)

Jean Piaget influenced me on the idea that children actively construct their own understanding of the world around them (Crain, 2005). A Chinese proverb describes the need for hands on experiences. “Tell me and I forget, Show me and I may remember, Involve me and I will understand”. Dur...

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...nce the child participated in a song, he was able to tell me that caterpillars become butterflies.

Through studying these theorists and developing my philosophy on child development, I will be able to walk into my own classroom and apply what I’ve learned to a classroom curriculum that assists children in developing to their full potential.

Works Cited

Crain, W. (2005). Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications (5th Ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Isenberg, J.P. & Jangolo, M.R. (2006). Creative Thinking and Arts-Based Learning: Preschool through Fourth Grade. (4th Ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Peters, D.L., Neisworth, J.T., & Yawkey, T.D. (1985). Early Childhood Education: From Theory to Practice. Monterey, California: Brooks/Cole.

Santrock, J.W. (2005). Children. (8th Ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

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